


Compelled Sacrifice

by Entwinedlove



Series: The Great October Challenge 2017 [76]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Muggle, Gen, Horror
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-26
Updated: 2017-10-26
Packaged: 2019-07-29 19:22:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 571
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16270733
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Entwinedlove/pseuds/Entwinedlove
Summary: Lucius has a nightmare.





	Compelled Sacrifice

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Death Eater Express's 31 Halloween Prompts  
> day 26 prompt: Draco Malfoy / Lucius Maloy / a lightning strike / a human sacrifice
> 
> [ ](https://i.imgur.com/XYKDFNX.jpg)

It was something he had to do. He had to get his son. Bundle him up. It was a compulsion. He had to get Draco, his son. He stood and walked slowly, determinedly out of his room and down the hall. He didn't want to do it. He didn't. There was nothing he wanted less in this world, but he had to. He didn't remember why. He couldn't. It was a compulsion to do it. Every step that brought Lucius closer to his son's bedroom, his crib, was a step he did not want to take. He couldn't think about what would come after. Every step seemed to take forever and the hall lengthened and grew so with every step he was barely closer to his goal. He had to get his son. Bundle him up and take him somewhere. The compulsion would tell him. Bundle him up tightly, swaddle him, Lucius had just spent the day learning the proper technique to swaddling. It was so important that he get it right.

He didn't want to get this right. He didn't want to swaddle Draco properly because then he wouldn't have to take him. He did not want to take him there, there where he would be required to snuff his life like a candle flame. He did not want to do it. The hall was suddenly too short and Lucius was there in his son's nursery. Had to swaddle the boy to take him, to put his hand—or the blanket, or the pillow, or the toy—over his face. He didn't want to commit to this; Lucius did not want to perform this human sacrifice! That was his son!

Stop! He screamed inside his own head and yet every step was loud and thunderous and every heartbeat shook him to his core. He couldn't do this but he had to. It was a compulsion.

There was an ear-splitting crack in his room and Lucius Malfoy sat bolt upright in his bed, eyes wide and terrified at the noise and the nightmare. He could smell burnt electronics and from beside him in the bed his wife, Narcissa, had sat up as well, clutching the blanket to her chest as she panted.

"What was that?" she asked him.

A deafening roar of thunder boomed over her words in answer.

"I think there was a lightning strike close. From the smell, I bet it burnt out the telly."

As the thunder quieted they could just make out a baby's cry and before Narcissa could move, Lucius was standing up and reaching for his dressing gown. "I'll tend to him. You get back to sleep." She nodded and smiled at him, thankful for his contributions to caring for their young son.

Lucius walked down the hall and into Draco's nursery. The baby monitor was crackling and Lucius reached out and turned it off; it had apparently been zapped in the power strike. He tucked his hand under Draco's head and cradled his beloved son to his chest, cherishing even his cries, and soothing the baby and himself with each other's closeness.

"I love you, Draco. Daddy loves you," Lucius cooed as his baby, rocking him and whispering quietly to him. As his heart rate slowed and he calmed from the abrupt awakening and the horrific nightmare, he vowed not to watch whatever that crime show he'd watched on the telly before bed again.


End file.
